Display apparatus and display method

ABSTRACT

A display apparatus includes: a display unit configured to be able to be curved in an almost cylindrical shape with a surface being oriented outwards and display information in a region of one of an entire periphery and a part of the surface; a viewing intention detector configured to detect viewing intention of a user for the information displayed on the display unit, the user wearing the display unit on a part of a body; a display region determiner configured to determine, according to the viewing intention of the user, a region of the display unit, which is viewable by the user, as a display region for displaying the information; and a display control unit configured to control display of the information in the display region.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims the benefit of Japanese Priority PatentApplication JP 2014-048335 filed Mar. 12, 2014, the entire contents ofwhich are incorporated herein by reference.

BACKGROUND

The present technology relates to a display apparatus and a displaymethod. In particular, the present technology relates to a displayapparatus and a display method that enable a user to easily viewinformation.

In recent years, apparatuses each wearable on a part of a human bodyhave been proposed.

As one of such wearable apparatuses, there is a display apparatus. Inthe display apparatus, display of a display unit disposed on an armportion of clothes is changed through a display changing means includinga light receiver that detects light from a light emitter mounted on thehead, for example (e.g., see Japanese Patent No. 4272440.

Many wristband type display apparatuses each including a display unitdisposed on a part of the wristband have been proposed.

SUMMARY

By the way, when the user wears the wristband type display apparatus,the wristband needs to be fitted on the arm (wrist) with some force.This is cumbersome and sometimes imposes a burden on the user.

In view of this, considering a device wearable in a loose fitting mannersuch that the wristband does not press the wrist, the burden on the usercan be reduced. However, in this case, there is a fear that the displayunit may be moved (rotated) to be hidden from the user.

In view of the above-mentioned circumstances, it is desirable to enablea user to easily view information without imposing a burden on the user.

According to an embodiment of the present technology, there is provideda display apparatus including: a display unit configured to be able tobe curved in an almost cylindrical shape with a surface being orientedoutwards and display information in a region of one of an entireperiphery and a part of the surface; a viewing intention detectorconfigured to detect viewing intention of a user for the informationdisplayed on the display unit, the user wearing the display unit on apart of a body; a display region determiner configured to determine,according to the viewing intention of the user, a region of the displayunit, which is viewable by the user, as a display region for displayingthe information; and a display control unit configured to controldisplay of the information in the display region.

The viewing intention detector may be configured to detect an attitudeof the user, to thereby detect the viewing intention of the user.

The display region determiner may be configured to determine, based onthe attitude of the user, the region of the display unit, which isviewable by the user, as the display region.

The viewing intention detector may be configured to detect the viewingintention of the user according to an operation input made by the user.

The display region determiner may be configured to determine the displayregion according to an operation input with respect to a touch panelsuperimposed on the display unit.

The display control unit may be configured to continuously scroll, inthe display region, the information in a circumferential direction ofthe display unit.

The display control unit may be configured to slide-display, in thedisplay region, the information in predetermined time intervals.

The display control unit may be configured to perform control tocollectively display, in the display region, the information such thatall the information is contained within the display region.

The display control unit may be configured to perform control to scroll,in the display region, the information in a circumferential direction ofthe display unit according to an operation input with respect to a touchpanel superimposed on the display unit.

The display control unit may be configured to change, according to anaction of the user, a method of displaying the information displayed onthe display unit.

The display apparatus may further include a rotation detector configuredto detect a rotation of the display unit in a circumferential direction,in which the display region determiner may be configured to move thedisplay region according to an angle of rotation detected by therotation detector, and the display control unit may be configured tocontrol display of the information according to the movement of thedisplay region.

If the rotation detector detects a rotation by one turn from an initialstate, the display control unit may be configured to perform control todisplay a continuation of the information in the display region at aposition of the initial state.

If the rotation detector detects a rotation by a predetermined anglefrom an initial state and further detects an inverse rotation to theinitial state, the display region determiner may be configured to returnthe display region moved according to the rotation to a position of theinitial state, and the display control unit may be configured to performcontrol to display a continuation of the information in the displayregion at the position of the initial state.

The display control unit may be configured to control display of one ofa predetermined image and a predetermined color in a region other thanthe display region of the display unit.

The display control unit may be configured to control, if the user hasno viewing intention for the information, display of one of apredetermined image and a predetermined color in one of an entireperiphery and a part of the display unit.

According to an embodiment of the present technology, there is provideda display method for a display apparatus including a display unitconfigured to be able to be curved in an almost cylindrical shape with asurface being oriented outwards and display information in a region ofone of an entire periphery and a part of the surface, the display methodincluding: by the display apparatus, detecting viewing intention of auser for the information displayed on the display unit, the user wearingthe display unit on a part of a body; determining, according to theviewing intention of the user, a region of the display unit, which isviewable by the user, as a display region for displaying theinformation; and controlling display of the information in the displayregion.

In the embodiment of the present technology, the viewing intention ofthe user wearing the display unit on the part of the body for theinformation displayed on the display unit is detected. According to theviewing intention of the user, the region of the display unit, which isviewable by the user, is determined as the display region in which theinformation is displayed. The display of the information in the displayregion is controlled.

According to an embodiment of the present technology, it is possible toenable a user to easily view information without imposing a burden onthe user.

These and other objects, features and advantages of the presentdisclosure will become more apparent in light of the following detaileddescription of best mode embodiments thereof, as illustrated in theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an outer appearance view showing a configuration example of adisplay apparatus according to an embodiment to which the presenttechnology is applied;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example ofthe display apparatus;

FIG. 3 is a view explaining a display region;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart explaining information display processing;

FIG. 5 is a view explaining determination of the display region;

FIG. 6 is a view explaining the determination of the display region;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example ofa display apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a flowchart explaining display region moving processing;

FIG. 9 is a view explaining movement of a display region;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart explaining display region moving processing;

FIG. 11 is a view explaining movement of a display region; and

FIG. 12 is an outer appearance view showing a configuration example of adisplay apparatus according to another embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

Hereinafter, embodiments of the present technology will be describedwith reference to the drawings.

[Outer Appearance View of Display Apparatus]

FIG. 1 is an outer appearance view showing a configuration example of awristband type display apparatus according to an embodiment to which thepresent technology is applied.

For example, a display apparatus 1 of FIG. 1 is made of resin, formed ina hollow cylindrical shape, and mounted on an arm (wrist) as a part of ahuman body. The display apparatus 1 does not expand and contract byitself. Therefore, for wearing the display apparatus 1, the user closesa palm and inserts a hand into the display apparatus 1 from finger topsto the wrist. In a state in which the user wears the display apparatus 1on the wrist, the display apparatus 1 is movable (rotatable) around thewrist.

On an outer peripheral surface of the display apparatus 1, a displayunit 11 is at an entire periphery thereof disposed. The display unit 11is able to be curved in a cylindrical shape with a surface beingoriented outwards and display information in a region of an entireperiphery or a part of the surface. A thin flexible display formed of,for example, organic electro luminescence (EL) or electronic paper isused as the display unit 11.

Alternatively, a touch panel may be superimposed on the display unit 11.The touch panel receives an input of contact (press) of a finger of theuser or a stylus pen.

Note that the cylinder of the display apparatus 1 contains a microchipfor controlling display of the display unit 1 and a memory that storesinformation displayed on the display unit 1.

Functional Configuration Example of Display Apparatus

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example ofthe display apparatus 1.

In addition to the display unit 11 described with reference to FIG. 1,the display apparatus 1 includes a sensor group 21, a camera 22, aninput unit 23, a storage unit 24, and a control unit 25.

The sensor group 21 includes an acceleration sensor, a gyro sensor, ageomagnetic sensor, and the like. These sensors supply outputs to thecontrol unit 25.

The camera 22 is configured as a miniature pinhole camera. A pluralityof cameras 22 are disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the displayunit 11. The plurality of cameras 22 supply imaging results to thecontrol unit 25.

Other than the above-mentioned touch panel superimposed on the displayunit 11, the input unit 23 is configured as a physical button disposedon a side surface of the display apparatus 1 (end surface of cylinder),for example. The input unit 23 receives an operation input made by theuser and supplies operation information corresponding to the operationinput to the control unit 25.

The storage unit 24 stores various types of information used for displaycontrol of the display unit 11 besides information for display(hereinafter, referred to as display information) such a text and animage displayed on the display unit 11. The information stored in thestorage unit 24 is read by the control unit 25 if necessary. Note thatthe display apparatus 1 may be provided with a communication unit suchthat the information stored in the storage unit 24 can be supplied tothe display apparatus 1 from an external apparatus via a network.

The control unit 25 performs control of display on the display unit 11.Specifically, based on any one of outputs from the sensor group 21,imaging results from the cameras 22, and operation information from theinput unit 23, the control unit 25 controls display of the displayinformation read from the storage unit 24 on the display unit 11.

The control unit 25 includes a viewing intention detector 31, a displayregion determiner 32, and a display control unit 33.

Based on any one of the outputs from the sensor group 21, the imagingresults from the cameras 22, and the operation information from theinput unit 23, the viewing intention detector 31 detects viewingintention of the user wearing the display apparatus 1 (display unit 11)for the display information displayed on the display unit 11 (whether ornot the user intends to view the display information). Then, the viewingintention detector 31 supplies the detection result (viewing intentionof user) to the display region determiner 32 or the display control unit33.

According to the viewing intention of the user from the viewingintention detector 31, the display region determiner 32 determines theregion of the display unit 11, which is viewable by the user, as thedisplay region in which the display information from the storage unit 24is displayed.

That is, if the user has viewing intention (the user intends to viewinformation), for example, as shown in FIG. 3, a region D of the displayunit 11, which is in a field of view of a user's eye Ue (outlined partin figure), is determined as the display region.

The display region determiner 32 supplies display region informationindicating the determined display region to the display control unit 33.

When receiving the display region information from the display regiondeterminer 32, the display control unit 33 controls display of thedisplay information from the storage unit 24 in the display region ofthe display unit 11 which is indicated by the display regioninformation. When receiving the detection result (viewing intention ofuser) from the viewing intention detector 31, the display control unit33 controls display in the region of the entire periphery or part of thedisplay unit 11.

[Information Display Processing by Display Apparatus]

Next, referring to a flowchart of FIG. 4, information display processingperformed by the display apparatus 1 will be described.

Note that the information display processing of FIG. 4 starts afterjudgment as to which of left and right arms of the user the displayapparatus 1 is mounted on.

For example, the control unit 25 judges which of the left and right armsthe display apparatus 1 is mounted on through pattern recognition usingoutputs of the acceleration sensor and gyro sensor forming a part of thesensor group 21 during walking. Here, it is assumed that data used forthe pattern recognition is obtained by learning and stored in thestorage unit 24 in advance.

Alternatively, a vein sensor capable of capturing a vein pattern of thewrist region of the user may be disposed on an inner peripheral surfaceof the display apparatus 1 as the sensor group 21 and which of the leftand right arms the display apparatus 1 is mounted on may be judgedthrough pattern recognition using the vein pattern.

Note that, through an operation input made by the user with respect tothe touch panel or button provided as the input unit 23, either one ofthe left and right arms on which the display apparatus 1 is mounted maybe set.

Thus, which of the left and right arms of the user the display apparatus1 is mounted on is judged. Then, in Step S11, the viewing intentiondetector 31 of the control unit 25 detects the viewing intention of theuser wearing the display apparatus 1.

For example, the viewing intention detector 31 detects an attitude ofthe user to judge whether or not the user has taken an attitude oftrying to view display information displayed on the display unit 11(attitude similar to that of trying to consult a watch). In this manner,the viewing intention detector 31 detects the viewing intention of theuser.

Specifically, the viewing intention detector 31 detects the attitude ofthe user by estimating a three-dimensional state of the displayapparatus 1 (change in position or tilt in three-dimensional space)based on an output of the acceleration sensor, gyro sensor, orgeomagnetic sensor forming a part of the sensor group 21. Note thatattitudes of the user, that is, three-dimensional states of the sensorsmay be obtained by leaning and stored in the storage unit 24 in advanceand thus the attitude of the user may be detected by the patternrecognition.

Alternatively, the viewing intention detector 31 may perform aline-of-sight detection or face detection of the user, using imagescaptured by the cameras 22, to thereby detect the attitude of the user.

By thus detecting the attitude of the user, the viewing intentiondetector 31 detects the viewing intention of the user.

Still alternatively, the viewing intention detector 31 may detect theviewing intention of the user according to an operation input made bythe user with respect to the touch panel or button provided as the inputunit 23.

In Step S12, the viewing intention detector 31 judges whether or not theuser has the viewing intention for the display information displayed onthe display unit 11, in other words, whether or not the user has takenan attitude of trying to view the information of the display unit basedon the result of detection of Step S11.

If it is judged in Step S12 that the user has the viewing intention, theviewing intention detector 31 supplies the result of detectionindicating the fact that the user has the viewing intention, to thedisplay region determiner 32, and the processing proceeds to Step S13.

Until whether or not the user has the viewing intention is judged, anoperation input with respect to the touch panel provided as the inputunit 23 may be invalidated. If it is judged that the user has theviewing intention, the operation input with respect to the touch panelmay be validated.

In Step S13, the display region determiner 32 determines the displayregion of the display unit 11 based on the result of detection from theviewing intention detector 31.

For example, based on the attitude of the user detected by the viewingintention detector 31 using the output of the acceleration sensor, gyrosensor, or geomagnetic sensor forming a part of the sensor group 21, thedisplay region determiner 32 estimates a region of the display unit 11mounted on the wrist of the user, which is a region of the back of thehand, a region closer to the face, or a region opposite to a regionfacing the ground, and determines this region as the display region.

Alternatively, the display region determiner may estimate a region ofthe display unit 11, which corresponds the wrist of the user on a frontside of the palm, using the vain pattern of the wrist region of the userthat is captured by the vein sensor forming a part of the sensor group21, and determine a region opposite to this region as the displayregion.

Still alternatively, the display region determiner 32 may perform aline-of-sight detection or face detection of the user, using imagescaptured by the plurality of cameras 22 disposed on the outer peripheralsurface of the display unit 11, to thereby determine a region of thedisplay unit 11, which faces the face of the user, as the displayregion.

Note that, as described above, when the region of the display unit 11,which is viewable by the user, is determined as the display region, theregion D corresponding to a circular arc defined by an angle θ set bythe user in advance may be determined as the display region as shown inFIG. 5.

Alternatively, the display region determiner 32 may determine thedisplay region through an operation input made by the user with respectto the touch panel or button provided as the input unit 23.Specifically, as shown in FIG. 6, the region D of the display unit 11,which has been traced with a user's finger Uf, may be determined as thedisplay region or a region in a predetermined range with a point touchedby the user's finger Uf being a center may be determined as the displayregion.

In particular, when the user tries to check the display unit 11, lyingon his or her back, the region of the display unit 11 that is oppositeto the region facing the ground is hidden from the user, and hence thedetermination of the display region through the operation input withrespect to the touch panel is effective.

The display region determiner 32 supplies the display region informationindicating the display region determined in the above-mentioned mannerto the display control unit 33.

Referring back to the flowchart of FIG. 4, in Step S14, the displaycontrol unit 33 performs control to display the display information fromthe storage unit 24 in the display region indicated by the displayregion information from the display region determiner 32.

Specifically, the display control unit 33 performs control tocontinuously scroll text data as the display information in the displayregion of the display unit 11 in a circumferential direction of thedisplay unit 11.

Alternatively, the display control unit 33 may perform control toslide-display the text data as the display information in the displayregion of the display unit 11 by a predetermined amount, for example, inpredetermined time intervals, for example, five seconds.

Still alternatively, the display control unit 33 may perform control tocollectively display text data items in the display region of thedisplay unit 11 such that all text data items as the display informationis contained within the display region of the display unit 11.

Still alternatively, the display control unit 33 performs control tocontinuously scroll the text data items in the display region of thedisplay unit 11 in the circumferential direction of the display unit 11according to an operation input made by the user with respect to thetouch panel provided as the input unit 23.

Still alternatively, the display control unit 33 may change, accordingto an action of the user, a method of displaying the text data as thedisplay information displayed in the display region of the display unit11.

Specifically, the display control unit 33 increases the size ofcharacters in a text displayed in the display region of the display unit11 while the user is running and reduces the size of characters in thetext displayed in the display region of the display unit 11 while theuser is standing. While the user is driving a car, the text displayed inthe display region of the display unit 11 may be output as speech. Notethat the actions of the user, for example, running, standing, anddriving a car can be recognized using the acceleration sensor or gyrosensor forming a part of the sensor group 21.

Note that the display control unit 33 can also perform control todisplay a predetermined image, color, or the like in a region other thanthe display region of the display unit 11.

On the other hand, in Step S12, if it is judged that the user does nothave the viewing intention, the viewing intention detector 31 suppliesthe result of detection indicating the fact that the user does not havethe viewing intention, to the display control unit 33, and theprocessing proceeds to Step S15.

In Step S15, the display control unit 33 performs control to display thepredetermined image, color, or the like in the region of the entireperiphery of the display unit 11. Examples of those displayed in theregion of the entire periphery of the display unit 11 include an imageof a design imitating an accessary and advertisement and message thatcan be recognized by surrounding people. Note that the region of thedisplay unit 11 in which the predetermined image or color is displayedis not limited to the region of the entire periphery of the display unit11 and may be, for example, a partial region of the display unit 11, forexample, a region of the display unit 11 on the back side of the hand ofthe user.

Alternatively, if it is judged that the user does not have the viewingintention, nothing may be displayed in the region of the entireperiphery of the display unit 11.

After Step S14 or S15, the processing returns to Step S11.

According to the above-mentioned processing, even if the wristband typedisplay apparatus mounted on the wrist of the user in a loose fittingmanner is moved (rotated) around the wrist, the display information isdisplayed in the region of the display unit, which is viewable by theuser. Therefore, it is possible to enable the user to easily view theinformation without imposing a burden on the user.

As described above, the wristband type display apparatus to which thepresent technology is applied is mounted on the wrist of the user in aloose fitting manner. Therefore, the user can voluntarily rotate thedisplay apparatus around the wrist. Thus, the display region of thedisplay unit may be moved according to the rotation of the displayapparatus.

Other Functional Configuration Examples of Display Apparatus

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing a functional configuration example ofa wristband type display apparatus configured such that a display regionis moved according to the rotation of the display apparatus.

Note that, in a display apparatus 101 of FIG. 7, portions having thesame functions as those of the display apparatus 1 of FIG. 2 will bedenoted by the same reference symbols and descriptions thereof will beappropriately omitted.

That is, a display apparatus 101 of FIG. 7 is different from the displayapparatus 1 of FIG. 2 in that the control unit 25 is replaced by acontrol unit 121. The control unit 121 of FIG. 7 is different from thecontrol unit 25 of FIG. 2 in that a rotation detector 131 is newly addedto the control unit 121.

Based on an output from the gyro sensor or geomagnetic sensor as thesensor group 21, the rotation detector 131 detects a rotation of thedisplay apparatus 101 (display unit 11) in a circumferential direction.The rotation detector 131 supplies angle information indicating an angleby which the display apparatus 101 has been rotated, to the displayregion determiner 32 and the display control unit 33.

Then, the display region determiner 32 moves the display region of thedisplay unit 11 according to the rotation angle indicated by the angleinformation from the rotation detector 131. The display control unit 33controls display of the display information displayed in the displayregion according to the rotation angle indicated by the angleinformation from the rotation detector 131 (in other words, the movementof the display region of the display unit 11).

Example 1 of Display Region Moving Processing by Display Apparatus

Next, referring to a flowchart of FIG. 8, an example of display regionmoving processing by the display apparatus 101 will be described.

It is assumed that the display region moving processing of FIG. 8 isstarted in a state in which the display information is displayed in thedisplay region in Step S14 of the information display processing of FIG.4. Note that the three-dimensional state of the display apparatus 101 atthis time is defined as an initial state.

In Step S51, the rotation detector 131 judges, based on an output fromthe sensor group 21, whether or not the display apparatus 101 has beenrotated in the circumferential direction from the initial state.

Until it is judged that the display apparatus 101 has been rotated inthe circumferential direction from the initial state, the processing ofStep S51 is repeated. If it is judged that the display apparatus 101 hasbeen rotated in the circumferential direction from the initial state,the rotation detector 131 supplies angle information indicating an angleby which the display apparatus 101 has been rotated, to the displayregion determiner 32 and the display control unit 33, and the processingproceeds to Step S52.

In Step S52, the display region determiner 32 moves the display regionof the display unit 11 according to the rotation angle indicated by theangle information from the rotation detector 131.

In Step S53, the display control unit 33 performs control to display thedisplay information in the moved display region according to themovement of the display region of the display unit 11.

In Step S54, the rotation detector 131 judges, based on an output fromthe sensor group 21, whether or not the display apparatus 101 has beenrotated by one turn from the initial state.

Until it is judged that the display apparatus 101 has been rotated byone turn from the initial state, the processing of Steps S51 to S54 isrepeated. If it is judged that the display apparatus 101 has beenrotated by one turn from the initial state, the rotation detector 131supplies information indicating the fact that the display apparatus 101has been rotated by one turn from the initial state, to the displaycontrol unit 33, and the processing proceeds to Step S55.

In Step S55, the display control unit 33 performs control to acontinuation of the information in the display region at a position ofthe initial state.

Now, referring to FIG. 9, the movement of the display region accordingto the above-mentioned rotation of the display apparatus 101 will bedescribed. On the left-hand side of A, B, and C of FIG. 9, simple sideviews of the display apparatus 101 are shown. On the right-hand side ofA, B, and C of FIG. 9, states of the movement of the display region ofthe display unit 11 are shown. It is assumed that a part of the text“Today, the weather will be clear, followed by clouds later on, andoccasionally rainy in some areas. It will be seasonably warm . . . ” isdisplayed in the display region.

A of FIG. 9 shows the initial state of the display apparatus 101. Thedisplay region is a region of the display unit 11, which is defined bypoints P0 to P1. Hereinafter, the region defined by the points P0 to P1will be referred to as a region P0-P1 or the like. Further, in theinitial state of A of FIG. 9, the part “Today, the weather will be” ofthe entire text is displayed in the region P0-P1 as the display region.

When the display apparatus 101 is rotated in a left-hand direction(counter-clockwise direction) in the figure from the initial state onthe left-hand side of A of FIG. 9, the display region is, according tothe rotation, moved as if it were fixed from the viewpoint of the userand comes to a position of a region P1-P2 shown on the left-hand side ofB of FIG. 9. As shown in the right-hand side of B of FIG. 9, the part“clear, followed by clouds lat” of the entire text is displayed in theregion P1-P2 as the display region.

When the display apparatus 101 is rotated in the left-hand direction(counter-clockwise direction) in the figure from the state on theleft-hand side of B of FIG. 9, the display region is, according to therotation, moved as if it were fixed from the viewpoint of the user andcomes to a position of a region P2-P0 shown on the left-hand side of Cof FIG. 9. As shown in the right-hand side of C of FIG. 9, the part “eron, and occasionally rain” of the entire text is displayed in the regionP2-P0 as the display region.

That is, the text is displayed in the display region as if a relativeposition of the display unit 11 and the text displayed on the displayunit 11 were fixed.

Moreover, when the display apparatus 101 is rotated in the left-handdirection (counter-clockwise direction) in the figure from the state onthe left-hand side of C of FIG. 9 and the display apparatus 101 isrotated by one turn from the initial state, the display region returnsto the position of the region P0-P1 shown on the left-hand side of A ofFIG. 9. Then, the part “y in some areas. It will be seasonably warm . .. ” that is a continuation of the part “er on, and occasionally rain” isdisplayed in the region P0-P1 as the display region.

Referring back to the flowchart of FIG. 8, after Step S55, theprocessing returns to Step S51 and the above-mentioned processing isrepeated. In this manner, by rotating the display apparatus around thewrist, the user can check the display information displayed according tothe rotation.

In accordance with the above-mentioned processing, by the user rotatingthe wristband type display apparatus mounted in a loose fitting manneraround the wrist, the display information is displayed in the region ofthe display unit, which is viewable by the user. Therefore, it ispossible to enable the user to easily view information without imposinga burden on the user.

Example 2 of Display Region Moving Processing by Display Apparatus

Next, referring to a flowchart of FIG. 10, another example of thedisplay region moving processing by the display apparatus 101 will bedescribed.

It is assumed that the display region moving processing of FIG. 10 alsostarts in the state in which the information is displayed in the displayregion in Step S14 of the information display processing of FIG. 4. Notethat the three-dimensional state of the display apparatus 101 at thistime is defined as the initial state.

Further, processing of Steps S71 to S73 in the flowchart of FIG. 10 isthe same as the processing of Steps S51 to S53 in flowchart of FIG. 8,and hence a description thereof will be described.

That is, in Step S74, the rotation detector 131 judges, based on anoutput from the sensor group 21, whether or not the display apparatus101 has been rotated by a predetermined angle from the initial state andinversely rotated and has returned to the initial state.

Until it is judged that the display apparatus 101 has been rotated bythe predetermined angle from the initial state and inversely rotated andhas returned to the initial state, the processing of Steps S71 to S74 isrepeated.

If it is judged that the display apparatus 101 has been rotated by thepredetermined angle from the initial state and inversely rotated and hasreturned to the initial state, the rotation detector 131 suppliesinformation indicating the fact that the display apparatus 101 has beenrotated by the predetermined angle from the initial state and inverselyrotated and has returned to the initial state to the display controlunit 33. Then, the processing proceeds to Step S75.

In Step S75, the display region determiner 32 returns the display regionto a position of the initial state (initial position).

Then, in Step S76, the display control unit 33 performs control todisplay a continuation of information in the display region at aposition of the initial state.

Now, referring to FIG. 11, the movement of the display region accordingto the rotation of the display apparatus 101 will be described. As inFIG. 9, on the left-hand side of A, B, and C of FIG. 11, simple sideviews of the display apparatus 101 are shown. On the right-hand side ofA, B, and C of FIG. 11, states of the movement of the display region ofthe display unit 11 are shown.

A of FIG. 11 shows the initial state of the display apparatus 101 andthe region P0-P1 of the display unit 11 is defined as the displayregion. Further, in the initial state of A of FIG. 11, the part “Today,the weather will be” of the entire text is displayed in the region P0-P1as the display region.

When the display apparatus 101 is rotated in the left-hand direction(counter-clockwise direction) in the figure from the initial state onthe left-hand side of A of FIG. 11, the display region is, according tothe rotation, moved as if it were fixed from the viewpoint of the userand comes to the position of the region P1-P2 shown on the left-handside of B of FIG. 11. As shown on the right-hand side of B of FIG. 11,the part “clear, followed by clouds lat” of the entire text is displayedin the region P1-P2 as the display region.

When the display apparatus 101 is rotated in a right-hand direction(clockwise direction) in the figure from the state on the left-hand sideof B of FIG. 11, the display region returns to a position of the regionP0-P1 shown on the left-hand side of C of FIG. 11. As shown on theright-hand side of C of FIG. 11, the part “er on, and occasionally rain”that is a continuation of the part “clear, followed by clouds lat” isdisplayed in the region P0-P1 as the display region.

Referring back to the flowchart of FIG. 10, after Step S75, theprocessing returns to Step S71 and the above-mentioned processing isrepeated. In this manner, by rotating the display apparatus around thewrist, the user can check the display information displayed according tothe rotation.

In accordance with the above-mentioned processing, by the user moving(rotating) the wristband type display apparatus mounted in a loosefitting manner around the wrist, the display information is displayed inthe region of the display unit, which is viewable by the user.Therefore, it is possible to enable the user to easily view informationwithout imposing a burden on the user.

When an operation input by a single touch is performed as the operationinput made by the user with respect to the touch panel provided as theinput unit 23 in the state in which the display information is displayedin the display region of the display unit 11, the display informationmay be continuously scrolled with the display region of the display unit11 being fixed. When an operation input by a multi-touch is performed,the display region may be moved and the display information may bedisplayed according to the rotation of the display unit 11 as describedwith reference to FIGS. 8 to 11.

Application Examples

Hereinafter, application examples applied to the display apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the present technology will be described.

(1) Text Display Application

An application for displaying a text of a mail or a tweet in a socialnetwork service (SNS) can be applied to the display apparatus accordingto the embodiment of the present technology. In particular, in the casewhere many words are displayed, scroll and display according to theoperation input made by the user with respect to the touch panel or themovement and display of the display region according to the rotation ofthe display unit 11 described with reference to FIGS. 8 to 11 areperformed.

Note that, in the display unit 11, not only the text display but alsotext input may be possible. Specifically, by the rotation andinverse-rotation operations of the display unit 11 by the predeterminedangle as described with reference to FIGS. 10 and 11, columns(“a”-column, “ka”-column, and the like) in fifty Japanese characters(i.e., Japanese alphabets) are changed to one another and characters(e.g., “a,” “i,” “u,” “e,” and “o”) in the selected column are scrolledand displayed such that the user can select it.

(2) Image Display Application

An application for displaying images captured by a camera, for example,can be applied to the display apparatus of the embodiment of the presenttechnology. In this case, an image displayed in the display region maybe scrolled and displayed not only in the circumferential direction ofthe display unit 11 but also in a rotational axis direction of thedisplay apparatus. Note that, when selecting an image to be displayed,by the rotation and inverse rotation operations of the display unit 11by the predetermined angle as described in FIGS. 10 and 11, groups ofimages (e.g., folders in which images are stored) are changed to oneanother and a plurality of images (e.g., thumbnail images) of theselected groups are scrolled and displayed such that the user can selectit.

(3) TODO Management Application

An application for performing TODO management based on positionalinformation can be applied to the display apparatus according to theembodiment of the present technology. A TODO list that is a list of whatthe user is to do (TODO) is created in advance and each TODO andpositional information are stored in association with each other. Whenthe user wearing the display apparatus comes closer to a point indicatedby the stored positional information, the TODO associated with thepositional information is displayed in the display region of the displayunit 11. Note that when the user comes closer to the point indicated bythe stored positional information, the user may be informed of it bysound or vibration.

(4) Advertisement Display Application

An application for displaying an advertisement of a shop or a companycan be applied to the display apparatus according to the embodiment ofthe present technology. The advertisement is displayed in the regionother than the display region if it is judged that the user has theviewing intention or in the entire periphery or part of the display unit11 if it is judged that the user does not have the viewing intention inthe information display processing described with reference to theflowchart of FIG. 4. Note that the displayed advertisement may bechanged in accordance with a time zone or a position indicated by thepositional information.

(5) Accessary Image Display Application

An application for displaying an image of a design imitating anaccessory (accessory image) can be applied to the display apparatusaccording to the embodiment of the present technology. The accessoryimage is also displayed in the region other than the display region ifit is judged that the user has the viewing intention or in the entireperiphery or part of the display unit 11 if it is judged that the userdoes not have the viewing intention in the information displayprocessing described with reference to the flowchart of FIG. 4.Although, by displaying the accessory image, the display apparatus canbe made outstanding, the display apparatus may be prevented from beingoutstanding by displaying a skin color image instead of the accessoryimage.

[Display Apparatus According to Another Embodiment]

FIG. 12 is an outer appearance view showing a configuration example of awristband type display apparatus according to another embodiment towhich the present technology is applied.

A display apparatus 501 of FIG. 12 is configured by an outer peripheralportion 511 and an inner peripheral portion 512 that are, for example,made of resin and formed in a hollow cylindrical shape. The outerperipheral portion 511 is configured to be rotatable around the innerperipheral portion 512. In an outer peripheral surface of the outerperipheral portion 511, as in the display apparatus 1 of FIG. 1, overthe entire periphery, the display unit 11 is disposed, the display unit11 being able to be curved in a cylindrical shape with a surface beingoriented outwards and to display information in a region of an entireperiphery or part of the surface.

With such a configuration, even if the user wears the display apparatus501 such that the inner peripheral portion 512 is not rotated around thewrist, the display unit 11 is rotatable around the wrist.

Although the display apparatus according to the embodiment of thepresent technology is mounted on the arm (wrist) as a part of the humanbody in the above description, it is not limited to be mounted on thewrist and may be mounted on an upper arm, femur, ankle, or the like.

By the way, the above-mentioned series of processing may be performed byhardware or may be performed by software. In the case where theabove-mentioned series of processing is performed by software, programsconfiguring the software are installed from a network or a recordingmedium. The recording medium is configured by, for example, the memoryserving as the storage unit 24 shown in FIG. 2.

Note that the embodiments of the present technology are not limited tothe above-mentioned embodiments and various modifications can be madewithout departing from the gist of the present technology.

The present technology can take a cloud computing configuration in whicha single function is shared with and processed by a plurality ofapparatuses via a network.

For example, the display apparatus may be provided with a communicationunit and the control unit 25 (control unit 121) and the storage unit 24may be disposed in an external server such that the display apparatusand the server communicate with each other via a network. Thus, thedisplay information may be displayed in the display region of thedisplay unit 11.

Further, the steps described above referring to the flowcharts can beperformed by a single apparatus or shared with and performed by aplurality of apparatuses.

In addition, if a single step includes a plurality of processes, theplurality of processes of the single step can be performed by a singleapparatus or shared with and performed by a plurality of apparatuses.

It should be noted that the present technology may also take thefollowing configurations.

(1) A display apparatus, including:

a display unit configured to be able to be curved in an almostcylindrical shape with a surface being oriented outwards and displayinformation in a region of one of an entire periphery and a part of thesurface;

a viewing intention detector configured to detect viewing intention of auser for the information displayed on the display unit, the user wearingthe display unit on a part of a body;

a display region determiner configured to determine, according to theviewing intention of the user, a region of the display unit, which isviewable by the user, as a display region for displaying theinformation; and

a display control unit configured to control display of the informationin the display region.

(2) The display apparatus according to (1), in which

the viewing intention detector is configured to detect an attitude ofthe user, to thereby detect the viewing intention of the user.

(3) The display apparatus according to (2), in which

the display region determiner is configured to determine, based on theattitude of the user, the region of the display unit, which is viewableby the user, as the display region.

(4) The display apparatus according to (1), in which

the viewing intention detector is configured to detect the viewingintention of the user according to an operation input made by the user.

(5) The display apparatus according to (1), in which

the display region determiner is configured to determine the displayregion according to an operation input with respect to a touch panelsuperimposed on the display unit.

(6) The display apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), in which

the display control unit is configured to continuously scroll, in thedisplay region, the information in a circumferential direction of thedisplay unit.

(7) The display apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), in which

the display control unit is configured to slide-display, in the displayregion, the information in predetermined time intervals.

(8) The display apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), in which

the display control unit is configured to perform control tocollectively display, in the display region, the information such thatall the information is contained within the display region.

(9) The display apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), in which

the display control unit is configured to perform control to scroll, inthe display region, the information in a circumferential direction ofthe display unit according to an operation input with respect to a touchpanel superimposed on the display unit.

(10) The display apparatus according to any one of (1) to (5), in which

the display control unit is configured to change, according to an actionof the user, a method of displaying the information displayed on thedisplay unit.

(11) The display apparatus according to (1), further including

a rotation detector configured to detect a rotation of the display unitin a circumferential direction, in which

the display region determiner is configured to move the display regionaccording to an angle of rotation detected by the rotation detector, and

the display control unit is configured to control display of theinformation according to the movement of the display region.

(12) The display apparatus according to (11), in which

if the rotation detector detects a rotation by one turn from an initialstate, the display control unit is configured to perform control todisplay a continuation of the information in the display region at aposition of the initial state.

(13) The display apparatus according to (11), in which

if the rotation detector detects a rotation by a predetermined anglefrom an initial state and further detects an inverse rotation to theinitial state, the display region determiner is configured to return thedisplay region moved according to the rotation to a position of theinitial state, and

the display control unit is configured to perform control to display acontinuation of the information in the display region at the position ofthe initial state.

(14) The display apparatus according to any one of (1) to (13), in which

the display control unit is configured to control display of one of apredetermined image and a predetermined color in a region other than thedisplay region of the display unit.

(15) The display apparatus according to any one of (1) to (14), in which

the display control unit is configured to control, if the user has noviewing intention for the information, display of one of a predeterminedimage and a predetermined color in one of an entire periphery and a partof the display unit.

(16) A display method for a display apparatus including a display unitconfigured to be able to be curved in an almost cylindrical shape with asurface being oriented outwards and display information in a region ofone of an entire periphery and a part of the surface, the display methodincluding: by the display apparatus,

detecting viewing intention of a user for the information displayed onthe display unit, the user wearing the display unit on a part of a body;

determining, according to the viewing intention of the user, a region ofthe display unit, which is viewable by the user, as a display region fordisplaying the information; and

controlling display of the information in the display region.

It should be understood by those skilled in the art that variousmodifications, combinations, sub-combinations and alterations may occurdepending on design requirements and other factors insofar as they arewithin the scope of the appended claims or the equivalents thereof.

What is claimed is:
 1. A display apparatus, comprising: a display unitconfigured to be able to be curved in an almost cylindrical shape with asurface being oriented outwards and display information in a region ofone of an entire periphery and a part of the surface; a viewingintention detector configured to detect viewing intention of a user forthe information displayed on the display unit, the user wearing thedisplay unit on a part of a body; a display region determiner configuredto determine, according to the viewing intention of the user, a regionof the display unit, which is viewable by the user, as a display regionfor displaying the information; and a display control unit configured tocontrol display of the information in the display region.
 2. The displayapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the viewing intention detectoris configured to detect an attitude of the user, to thereby detect theviewing intention of the user.
 3. The display apparatus according toclaim 2, wherein the display region determiner is configured todetermine, based on the attitude of the user, the region of the displayunit, which is viewable by the user, as the display region.
 4. Thedisplay apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the viewing intentiondetector is configured to detect the viewing intention of the useraccording to an operation input made by the user.
 5. The displayapparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display region determiner isconfigured to determine the display region according to an operationinput with respect to a touch panel superimposed on the display unit. 6.The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display controlunit is configured to continuously scroll, in the display region, theinformation in a circumferential direction of the display unit.
 7. Thedisplay apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display control unitis configured to slide-display, in the display region, the informationin predetermined time intervals.
 8. The display apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the display control unit is configured to performcontrol to collectively display, in the display region, the informationsuch that all the information is contained within the display region. 9.The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display controlunit is configured to perform control to scroll, in the display region,the information in a circumferential direction of the display unitaccording to an operation input with respect to a touch panelsuperimposed on the display unit.
 10. The display apparatus according toclaim 1, wherein the display control unit is configured to change,according to an action of the user, a method of displaying theinformation displayed on the display unit.
 11. The display apparatusaccording to claim 1, further comprising a rotation detector configuredto detect a rotation of the display unit in a circumferential direction,wherein the display region determiner is configured to move the displayregion according to an angle of rotation detected by the rotationdetector, and the display control unit is configured to control displayof the information according to the movement of the display region. 12.The display apparatus according to claim 11, wherein if the rotationdetector detects a rotation by one turn from an initial state, thedisplay control unit is configured to perform control to display acontinuation of the information in the display region at a position ofthe initial state.
 13. The display apparatus according to claim 11,wherein if the rotation detector detects a rotation by a predeterminedangle from an initial state and further detects an inverse rotation tothe initial state, the display region determiner is configured to returnthe display region moved according to the rotation to a position of theinitial state, and the display control unit is configured to performcontrol to display a continuation of the information in the displayregion at the position of the initial state.
 14. The display apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the display control unit is configured tocontrol display of one of a predetermined image and a predeterminedcolor in a region other than the display region of the display unit. 15.The display apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the display controlunit is configured to control, if the user has no viewing intention forthe information, display of one of a predetermined image and apredetermined color in one of an entire periphery and a part of thedisplay unit.
 16. A display method for a display apparatus including adisplay unit configured to be able to be curved in an almost cylindricalshape with a surface being oriented outwards and display information ina region of one of an entire periphery and a part of the surface, thedisplay method comprising: by the display apparatus, detecting viewingintention of a user for the information displayed on the display unit,the user wearing the display unit on a part of a body; determining,according to the viewing intention of the user, a region of the displayunit, which is viewable by the user, as a display region for displayingthe information; and controlling display of the information in thedisplay region.